As I've mentioned before, our company not only does parking enforcement and roadside service for motor clubs but also does repossession work for banks. Since you have to be licensed to repo things (the cops frown on freelance repomen, they correctly consider such activity as theft) we only have one real repo guy, Twich.
Repo work has it's own set of shenanigans, and Twitch usualy comes back with a few stories of his own when he leaves town for a night. For example.
Twitch pulls up to a trailer with an order to repossess a 4 wheeler ATV. This isn’t unusual, as some of the more well-appointed versions of motorcycles, dirt bikes and ATVs can cost almost as much as a low-end automobile. Technically, if your bank loaned you money for it, and you don’t pay, it can get repossessed by us no matter what it is. We’ve repoed cars, trucks, semis, RVs, boats on trailers, Harley-Davidsons, tractors, livestock trailers, log skidders, golf carts, but I think the ultimate low was when we repoed that riding lawnmower. Seeing THAT go down the highway on the back of a tow truck was quite a sight, but I’m getting off topic. Point is, Twich was there for this guy’s ATV
Mr. Deadbeat must’ve known someone was coming for it because he took the wheels off and left the thing sitting high and dry on bricks in the front yard. As soon as Twich pulls into the driveway, Deadbeat steps out onto the porch and yells
“Ha ha haaa! Loser! Can’t take it now can you!?” with a shit-eating grin and slams the door.
This makes Twitch angry, very very angry, and you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.
Twitch proceeds to grab the handlebars and on a pure adrenaline high, picks up the several-hundred-pound ATV and heaves it onto the back of the tow truck.
As he’s backing out of the driveway, Mr. Deadbeat sticks his head out the window. Having heard the tow truck’s motor rev up, he assumed Twich was leaving in defeat, and was probably looking to bust Twitch’s chops some more, only to see Twitch now pulling out of his neighborhood with his aforementioned ATV now strapped to the back of the truck.
“Ha ha haaaa! Loser!” yells Twitch as he takes off.
PA is a “Breach of Peace” state. What this means is, a repossession agent may not cause a public disturbance in the process of his or her work. What that boils down to is, if you get caught repossessing something, and owner tells you “put it down and leave” you have to put it down and leave. Failure to immediately comply is considered a breach of peace and you can kiss you license goodbye and possibly face criminal/civil charges. You can’t argue, you can’t threaten, you can’t pretend you didn’t hear him. You have to put the car/truck/whatever down and leave. Now, if you DO get it loaded, as soon as you leave the driveway. It’s considered to be in your possession, so then there’s nothing the owner can do but call the bank. But that crucial 4 to 5 minutes of load time is where they can really screw you over if they catch you.
Thus was the case with a particularly odd repo Twitch did a few years back. Twitch knew the guy’s address, and tried several times to get the car directly from the driveway, but the deadbeat owner would always come out and catch him before he could finish no matter what hour of the day he tried to grab it. And this guy was an unrepentant deadbeat too, hadn’t made a single payment, knew Twitch was coming for it and was purposely waiting for him to get 99% of the way loaded before yanking his chain, just to be a bigger canker sore on society than he already was.
After 4 unsuccessful tries, Twitch figures he’s never going to get this guy at home, and instead waits at the exit from his neighborhood one morning, hoping to follow the guy to his work, or a bar, or someplace where he can make an attempt at loading it and not get noticed.
On the appointed morning, the guy leaves his neighborhood, but just as Twich is about to pull out of his hiding spot, the guy pulls into a nearby gas station to fill up. Then he goes inside to pay. Twitch figures there’s no point in trying to snag it now, those big bay windows won’t hide his truck pulling in. But something else catches his eye.
In the cold winter climate, he can see that the car is still running from the white vapor plume of exhaust.
Which means it’s running….
Running, with no one in it…
Meaning, the keys are in it….
Some of the more astute in the audience can probably guess what happened next. And it wasn’t chasing squirrels up trees…
Twich later asked the gas station manager if he could have a copy of the CCTV footage of him hopping into the car and driving off, complete with the owner coming out about 20 seconds later and having a meltdown. Sadly, they said “no”.
Repo work has it's own set of shenanigans, and Twitch usualy comes back with a few stories of his own when he leaves town for a night. For example.
Twitch pulls up to a trailer with an order to repossess a 4 wheeler ATV. This isn’t unusual, as some of the more well-appointed versions of motorcycles, dirt bikes and ATVs can cost almost as much as a low-end automobile. Technically, if your bank loaned you money for it, and you don’t pay, it can get repossessed by us no matter what it is. We’ve repoed cars, trucks, semis, RVs, boats on trailers, Harley-Davidsons, tractors, livestock trailers, log skidders, golf carts, but I think the ultimate low was when we repoed that riding lawnmower. Seeing THAT go down the highway on the back of a tow truck was quite a sight, but I’m getting off topic. Point is, Twich was there for this guy’s ATV
Mr. Deadbeat must’ve known someone was coming for it because he took the wheels off and left the thing sitting high and dry on bricks in the front yard. As soon as Twich pulls into the driveway, Deadbeat steps out onto the porch and yells
“Ha ha haaa! Loser! Can’t take it now can you!?” with a shit-eating grin and slams the door.
This makes Twitch angry, very very angry, and you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.
Twitch proceeds to grab the handlebars and on a pure adrenaline high, picks up the several-hundred-pound ATV and heaves it onto the back of the tow truck.
As he’s backing out of the driveway, Mr. Deadbeat sticks his head out the window. Having heard the tow truck’s motor rev up, he assumed Twich was leaving in defeat, and was probably looking to bust Twitch’s chops some more, only to see Twitch now pulling out of his neighborhood with his aforementioned ATV now strapped to the back of the truck.
“Ha ha haaaa! Loser!” yells Twitch as he takes off.
PA is a “Breach of Peace” state. What this means is, a repossession agent may not cause a public disturbance in the process of his or her work. What that boils down to is, if you get caught repossessing something, and owner tells you “put it down and leave” you have to put it down and leave. Failure to immediately comply is considered a breach of peace and you can kiss you license goodbye and possibly face criminal/civil charges. You can’t argue, you can’t threaten, you can’t pretend you didn’t hear him. You have to put the car/truck/whatever down and leave. Now, if you DO get it loaded, as soon as you leave the driveway. It’s considered to be in your possession, so then there’s nothing the owner can do but call the bank. But that crucial 4 to 5 minutes of load time is where they can really screw you over if they catch you.
Thus was the case with a particularly odd repo Twitch did a few years back. Twitch knew the guy’s address, and tried several times to get the car directly from the driveway, but the deadbeat owner would always come out and catch him before he could finish no matter what hour of the day he tried to grab it. And this guy was an unrepentant deadbeat too, hadn’t made a single payment, knew Twitch was coming for it and was purposely waiting for him to get 99% of the way loaded before yanking his chain, just to be a bigger canker sore on society than he already was.
After 4 unsuccessful tries, Twitch figures he’s never going to get this guy at home, and instead waits at the exit from his neighborhood one morning, hoping to follow the guy to his work, or a bar, or someplace where he can make an attempt at loading it and not get noticed.
On the appointed morning, the guy leaves his neighborhood, but just as Twich is about to pull out of his hiding spot, the guy pulls into a nearby gas station to fill up. Then he goes inside to pay. Twitch figures there’s no point in trying to snag it now, those big bay windows won’t hide his truck pulling in. But something else catches his eye.
In the cold winter climate, he can see that the car is still running from the white vapor plume of exhaust.
Which means it’s running….
Running, with no one in it…
Meaning, the keys are in it….
Some of the more astute in the audience can probably guess what happened next. And it wasn’t chasing squirrels up trees…
Twich later asked the gas station manager if he could have a copy of the CCTV footage of him hopping into the car and driving off, complete with the owner coming out about 20 seconds later and having a meltdown. Sadly, they said “no”.
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